Pokemon of the Week: Rotom-Heat

Greetings Hat Lovers!

This week I’ll be looking at one of my favourite Pokemon in the format which has been a staple on many of my teams. Rotom debuted in generation four, and gained five alternate forms in Platinum. Each form got its own signature move and in generation five each Rotom’s secondary type became the same as the signature moves type.

Rotom-H began to gain popularity around the time of winter regionals when players realized they needed a strong Fire type and found the options to be scarce.

Base Stats:

50 / 65 / 107 / 105 / 107 / 86

Rotom-H has a mediocre base HP, with some great defences to go with it. Investing in HP and giving Rotom-H Sitrus Berry makes it hard to OHKO. 105 Special Attack is enough for Rotom to have some offensive pressure, especially with a high base power move like Overheat. 86 Speed puts Rotom firmly below the base 100+ range but has it sitting above most everything else.

Electric / Fire typing is great with Levitate. Rotom-H resists Electric, Ice and Fire, all of which are types I find myself wanted more resistances too. Being a Fire type at all is a major boon to Rotom-H, as we have a severe lack of viable Fire types in VGC 2014.

Ability:Rotom-H’s only ability is Levitate. This patches up Rotom’s would-be 4x weakness to Ground, which would make it nearly unplayable. Keep in mind that this ability won’t save you from Mold Breaker users like Mega Gyarados.

This EV spread is the pinnacle of defensive Rotom-H spreads. I used this spread in Washington and I’ve never found a reason to change it. When I originally made it I only had a couple goals in mind but by shear coincidence it manages to just barely survive several strong attacks with the highest damage roll.

Survives 252+ Dragon Claw from +1 Mega Charizard X

Survives 252+ Waterfall from Gyarados

Survives 252 Close Combat from Mega Lucario

Survives 76 Hydro Pump from Rotom-W

3HKO’d by Rock Slide/Dragon Claw from 252 Garchomp

3HKO’d by 252+ Aqua Jet from Azumarill after Sitrus Berry most of the time (if they don’t activate Sitrus after the first hit and then get a high roll on the second attack there is a slight chance to 2HKO)

OHKO’s Ray’s Mawile 15/16 times with Overheat

If you want your Rotom-H to be bulky while still applying offensive pressure look no further then this spread.

This Rotom-H focuses on getting OHKOs instead of surviving multiple hits. There are a handful of Pokemon Rotom-H can’t OHKO on its own and Life Orb gives it the boost it needs to always net the OHKO on them. This Rotom always OHKOs Amoonguss, Mega Manectric, Garchomp and Salamence with either Overheat or Hidden Power. This set out speeds positive natured base 70 Pokemon. The rest is put into HP to reach 139 HP, a good amount for reducing Life Orb damage.

Scarfed Rotom will often take your opponent by surprise. This set out speeds Mega Manectric. Be aware that this set loses a ton of bulk by not investing in HP. I’m often disappointed by this set as it lacks the bulk of a standard Rotom and HP Ice lacks the power to OHKO Garchomp. Being able to Will-O-Wisp Kangaskhan before it attacks is nice though, as is being able to out speed Gyarados and avoid taking a Waterfall.

Other Options:Expert Belt can be subbed in Life Orb so Rotom-H can stay in play longer. This will cost you the OHKO on Mega Manectric and reduce your damage output in general. Safety Googles makes Rotom-H a hard counter to Charizard / Venusaur, but that lack of healing will hurt you outside of this combo. Leftovers is an alternate healing item if another teammate needs Sitrus Berry.

Thunder Wave is an alternate status move that provides speed control over attack reduction. Discharge can work on a team with Lightning Rod / Telepathy / Ground Pokemon. Substitute is a cool move I’ve had successfully used against me, if neither of your opponent’s Pokemon can threaten Rotom-H you can put up a Substitute and make it harder to deal with. This also works great when facing Amoonguss and Mawile that want to bait an Overheat and switch into a Fire resist.

Teammates:What can’t be paired with Rotom? I’m not kidding Rotom-H and it’s other form Rotom-W slot onto pretty much any team you want them to. Due to the lack of Fire types in the format you have your choice of Charizard, Rotom-H, Talonflame, Pyroar or using Pokemon like Manectric, Hydreigon, Salamence and Tyranitar that have non-STAB fire attacks. Of these fire types Charizard takes your Mega slot, Talonflame has its issues and while Pyroar handles the offensive side well it doesn’t take hits at all.

Rotom-H will want partners that can handle Rotom-W and other Water types. Amoonguss, Venusaur and Ludicolo. all fit the bill. These Pokemon benefit from Rotom-H hard countering Talonflame. Things like Mega Charizard and Specs Hydreigon that can simply muscle through Rotom-W’s defence are also welcome additions. While Rotom-H can burn a Kangaskhan it doesn’t beat it on its own so having Pokemon that help it out are nice to have.Counters and Checks:Rotom-W can take any attack from Rotom-H and OHKO with Hydro Pump. Most Water types that can out speed Rotom-H can check it with Hydro Pump, Ludicolo and Kingdra are good choice as they aren’t weak to Thunderbolt.

Mega Charizard X doesn’t care about anything Rotom-H can do to it bar Thunder Wave. Rotom-H can’t do anything to Rotom-H either, but Rotom-H won’t be able to do anything to Rotom-H to take advantage of this unless you run HP Rock or something. Garchomp can handle Rotom-H if it lacks HP Ice. Rotom-H will have to land 2 Will-O-Wisp to burn a LumChomp while being hit by Rock Slide each turn.Conclusion:

You’ve probably seen a thousand Rotom-H this season, and statistically you’ve used it at some point yourself. So clearly you already know this thing is great. I hope that you were able to take something new from this post and either use it or be aware of it yourself. Rotom-H isn’t going anywhere and just like the seasons you need to know how to beat the heat!